May 29, 1902. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



343 



No. 7.— Bee-Keeping for Women. 



How to Introduce a Queen Successfully. 



HV KM MA M. Wll.SIIX. 



THE introduce a queen successfully is not a very dillicult 

 feat for a veteran, but it is an entirely difTerent tiling 

 with those who have had no experience whatever in 

 that line, and scarcely know a queen from a worker. With 

 them the introduction of a <iueen is an undertukinj^f at- 

 tended with a fjood deal of nervousness, and the success or 

 failure of the venture means so much more to them than it 

 does to one who has had years of experience. 



I well remember the first ([ucen I introduced all by my 

 lone self. Dr. Miller was away from home, to be gone sev- 

 eral days, and the very first day after he left a valuable im- 

 ported ([ueen arrived. How my heart sank. I sat down and 

 looked at her, and just about made up my mind to leave her 

 in the cage until he came home. Still I was afraid she might 

 die if left in the cage so long, and I finally concluded she 

 must be taken care of. But not a bee would I risk with lier 

 valuable ladyship. I had helped Dr. Miller introduce an 

 imported queen that had come unexpectedly some time be- 

 fore, and 1 concluded to try the same plan. 



I put a piece of wire-cloth on top of a strong colony, 

 placed an empty hive on it, then went to two or three 

 strong colonies, and selected several frames of sealed brood 

 from which the bees were just hatching, and placed them in 

 this empty hive, being very careful that not a single bee 

 was left on them. I was afraid they might need water, so I 

 .soaked a cloth with water and put it in the hive. Lastly, 

 with fear and trembling, I put in the queen (killing the at- 

 tendants for fear of foul brood), and covered her up snug 

 and tight so that not a single bee could get in, and left her 

 to her fate. 



I wanted so much to look for her the next morning to 

 see if she was all right, but concluded to leave her until 

 evening. When evening came I could wait no longer, so I 

 opened up the hive, and was delighted to find her all right 

 with quite a cluster of baby bees, and more hatching, sol 

 concluded they would do to put on a stand by themselves, as 

 the weather was warm, which I proceeded to do, taking the 

 precaution to close the entrance so that only a few bees 

 could get out at a time. By the time Dr. Miller got back 

 there was quite a little colony. 



Dr. Miller said it would have been better if I had left 

 them on top of the other hive for four or five days. In this 

 case I don't think it did any harm, as the weather was so 

 warm. If it had turned around cool some of the brood 

 might have chilled. 



If I had a very valuable queen to introduce I would 

 rather take the plan I have described than any other I know 

 of, for it is perfectly safe. 



In ordinary cases the introducing-cage is a boon, espec- 

 ially at the out-apiaries. You often want to remove a queen, 

 or kill a worthless one, and you don't want the colony to go 

 queenless until the next time you visit the apiary. All you 

 have to do is to remove or kill your queen, fasten a queen in 

 a Miller introducing-cage on one of the frames with a wire- 

 nail pushed through the cage into the comb. By the time 

 the bees have gnawed through the paper and eaten their 

 way through the candy they are ready to accept the new 

 queen without any trouble. That is, they very rarely make 

 any trouble. Once in a great while you find the queen 

 missing. Perhaps they gnaw their way through too quickly, 

 and reach the queen before properly making her acquain- 

 tance. Sometimes, however, when a queen is not kindly re- 

 ceived it is because there is something in the hive which the 

 bees regard as a queen. 



I remember one colony that I thought was hopelessly 

 queenless. There were no eggs nor any unsealed brood in 

 the colony, and I looked the frames over carefully and could 

 find no young queen, so I gave them a queen in an introduc- 

 ing-cage, and the next time I looked she was gone. I gave 

 them another, and she shared the same fate. Then I 

 thought I would try them once more, and gave them another, 

 taking care that everything was all right about the cage. 

 When I opened the colony the next time I found that she 

 also had disappeared. Then I concluded that they must 

 have some sort of a worthless queen. I looked very 

 carefully but could not find the least trace of one. Then I 

 gave them a frame of young brood. In a day or two I 

 looked again and they had not started any queen-cells. So 

 I began mj' search for a queen again. 



I went over the frames carefully several times and no 

 queen could I find. Just as I was about to close up the hive 



I caught sight of a little black queen with one bad wing, 

 not much if any bigger than a worker. That was what had 

 been making all the trouble. I tell you, her head came off 

 pretty quick, and the next fjucen was accepted all right. 



If nectar is coming in freely, and robber-bees are not 

 ciusing any trouble, and we know that acolony is'iueenless, 

 all that we do is to drop a (|ueen on a comb among the bees 

 and she is generally accepted all right. In a case of this 

 kind it is a little safer to introduce her in the evening. 



McHenry Co., 111. 



Management for the Production of Comb Honey. 



liV G. VV. STlil'llE.NSON. 



IN writing on the production of comb honey I suppose the 

 proper thing to do would be to begin in the fall, tell how 

 to prepare the bees for winter and build them up in the 

 spring ready for the honey-flow. But as that would take 

 up too much valuable space I shall assume that they have 

 come through the winter and early spring to the time of 

 fruit-bloom, which occurs about the last of April or the fore 

 part of May, in this locality. At this time each colony 

 should be examined carefully, clip all queens tViat are not 

 already clipped, and note especially the very weak and very 

 strong colonies, for these are the ones with which we have 

 to do at present. 



I believe some bee-keepers advise taking brood from the 

 medium-strong colonies to build up weaker ones. I prefer 

 to go to the very strongest colonies. I have been thinking 

 it is better to use up one or two strong colonies to build up 

 several weak ones than to weaken the medium colonies — to 

 make the wdak ones only medium. Take one or two frames 

 of hatching brood (be sure and have the bees just emerging 

 from the cells), place these frames in the center of the 

 brood-nest, and your colony is strengthened at once. As 

 fast as the young bees emerge the queen will lay in the 

 empty cells and the eggs will be right where they can be 

 kept warm. 



The queen will also extend the brood-nest on each side, 

 as there are now plenty of young bees to take care of the 

 brood. There is nothing like lots of young bees to encour- 

 age a weak colony. By continuing this method, always 

 replacing the frames of brood taken from the strong colony 

 with empty combs, we will soon have all the colonies in a 

 flourishing condition and ready for the harvest. 



We come now to the time of swarming and putting on 

 the supers, but before we put on the supers I wish to call 

 your attention to the one I have used for the last three or 

 four years, which is arranged in this manner : It is what 

 is known as the T super, the size to fit a 10-frame hive, and 

 will hold twenty-eight 4'4x4'4 bee-way sections; but in- 

 stead of putting in 28 sections I put in only 24. with a fol- 

 lower at each side, leaving a bee-space of about '2 inch 

 between the inside of the super and follower. It is to the 

 importance of this bee-space that I wish to call your atten- 

 tention. I find the bees will build out and finish the outside 

 sections much quicker and better than without it ; it also 

 acts as a ventilator, giving the bees a chance to ripen up 

 the honey very fast. There should also be a space of at 

 least fs inch between supers, and between the cover of the 

 hive and super, for if we expect to have the sections of 

 honey built out and sealed to the top and bottom we must 

 have room for enough bees to cluster to keep up the heat. 

 In such a super there is a living blanket of bees from -s to 

 >2 inch thick all over the top and around the sides, and they 

 are bound to produce a first-class article. 



Having the supers all ready with sections filled with 

 full sheets of foundation, and a few bait-sections in the 

 first ones put on, we are ready for the harvest ; and as the 

 honey begins to come in we are likelj' to have some swarms: 

 but to prevent this as much as possible I raise up the hives 

 on '2-inch blocks at each corner, and give plenty of super- 

 room. But, do all we may, we will have some swarms, 

 which I should manage in this way, (and this management 

 is for a long, continuous honey-flow, and admits of very 

 little increase) : 



I use a 10-frame hive. Provide a hive with 5 frames 

 containing full sheets of foundation or empty combs, put- 

 ting them all together in the center of the hive. When the 

 first colony swarms set the old hive to one side, place the 

 new one in its place and fill up with two frames of honey 

 and three of brood from the old hive, being sure to destroy 

 all queen-cells. Take the brood that will not emerge for 

 four or five days, put on the super at once, and the bees will 

 go right to work. Fill up the old hive with full sheets of 

 foundationorempt}- combs; in from five to seven days shake 



